put the brakes on
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put the brakes on
verb puts the brakes on · putting the brakes on · put the brakes on · put on the brakes
- To stop (an event, action, or process) or to slow it down. "[T]he fight I saw that day made the others look like a young ladies' quadrille. . . . [Y]ou could no more separate them two than you could put the brakes on a blame earthquake."
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To cease to perform one's current activity or to decrease one's level of activity.
"It would have been so easy for him to have the kids rolling on the floor, doubled up with laughter. So he had to put the brakes on at times."
Similar: rein in
Opposite: antonym(s) of
Thesaurus
verb
Opposite: antonym(s) of
Talk about this word "put the brakes on." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/put%20the%20brakes%20on. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. put the brakes on. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/put%20the%20brakes%20on "put the brakes on." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/put%20the%20brakes%20on.Cite this
@misc{put_the_brakes_on_2026,
title = {put the brakes on},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/put%20the%20brakes%20on},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
